Video: Paul Abdul loses it on live TV

NEW YORK — “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul canceled media interviews Friday as an online video emerged of the television star slurring and gesticulating her way through a TV interview a day earlier.

Some viewers of the footage posted on the popular online video site YouTube.com suggested she should head into rehab because it appeared she had been drinking.

But Abdul’s spokesman, Jeff Ballard, denied that she was under the influence of alcohol or on some kind of medication and said the U.S. performer never drank.

Ballard said the interview was one of the last in a string of question-and-answer sessions she had done over two hours Thursday ahead of a new season of “American Idol,” debuting next week on the Fox network.

“She was exhausted. This was at the end of three days of press (interviews and appearances), and she has had cameras following her around for a reality TV show, too,” said Ballard, referring to a new documentary series about the star’s life.

“She was sitting in a room with just a camera and a mic on, and the controllers dropped the sound twice, which is why she rolled her eyes.”

‘She was a little tired’Ballard said Abdul, 44, had canceled all media interviews Friday because she had a sore throat after sitting in the chilly studio Thursday.